REUTERS - Influential West Ham United midfielder Dimitri Payet is not just a flair player and has shown a "gritty" side to his game by not neglecting defensive duties, team mate Michail Antonio has said.

Payet, who has scored nine goals in 25 appearances in all competitions this season, has been rewarded for his impressive form with a new contract despite only joining the club from French side Marseille in June last year.

"His vision, his work-rate... he is not one of these flair players that makes everyone else get the ball for him and then does damage," Antonio told the club's website.

"He will go and win the ball back himself and then cause damage. He does both... the gritty side and the flair."

Ahead of Saturday's Premier League encounter with second-bottom Sunderland, Slaven Bilic's men sit seventh in the table, just a point behind the European qualifying places with 12 games remaining.

(Reporting by Shravanth Vijayakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by John O'Brien)